Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood summoned six major LPG importers on Saturday, as part of a government scrutiny into allegations that some operators have been withholding supplies since 22 September.
The meeting was held at the minister’s Secretariat office.
Energy and Mineral Resources Division on Friday issued a letter asking representatives of Omera, Aygaz, Jamuna, BM Energy, Petromax and Fresh LPG to attend the meeting.
Five of the six companies – all except Fresh – were named in a TIMES report published on Friday over alleged withholding of LPG supplies, based on what the National Security Intelligence had reported to the energy minister.
Mahmood had confirmed the development to a TIMES correspondent on Thursday evening, saying he was working on the matter.
The energy ministry shared two photographs of Saturday’s meeting with the media. Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir was also present at the meeting.
The ministry did not disclose what was discussed, however, and Mahmood did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
East Coast Group Chairman Azam J Chowdhury and Omera Petroleum CEO Tanzeem Chowdhury for Omera LPG, Meghna Group Chairman Mostafa Kamal for Fresh LPG, Jamuna LPG’s Belayet Hossain, United Aygaz CEO Harun Ortaç, BM Energy Chairman Mostafizur Rahman, SHV CEO Marco Antonio and its subsidiary Petromax LPG Law Officer Aminul Islam were called to the meeting.
Sources said Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood asked the companies to maintain smooth supply to the market, while the operators pressed for a price increase in October, citing a surge in their costs.
The government then moved to obtain company-level sales data.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) on Saturday asked all LPG operators to submit detailed reports on their September sales, including the quantities sold to different categories of customers.
In letters sent individually to operators, BERC cited the amount of LPG each company had imported in September and asked them to report by Sunday how much they sold and to whom, including bulk buyers and retail consumers.
TIMES has seen such letters sent to seven companies.
“We wrote to all LPG operators for the detailed sales report for September,” BERC Secretary Nazrul Islam Sarker told TIMES.
